[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Elizabeth Peratrovich Day

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I have come to the floor for a few 
moments this afternoon to recognize a woman of great distinction, a 
woman of valor, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Peratrovich, who 
championed civil rights for all Alaskans.
  February 16, in Alaska, is a significant day. It is a day that the 
State of Alaska recognizes and observes Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. We 
have designated this day as early as 1988, but it is a time for us, as 
Alaskans, to reflect on the contributions of a pretty extraordinary 
Native woman, a Tlingit woman.
  So I think it is important, and I have had an opportunity over the 
years to speak about Elizabeth Peratrovich. Senator Sullivan and I 
advanced a resolution recognizing Elizabeth Peratrovich's contributions 
when it comes to civil rights, and I think it is always important and 
timely to pay attention, to reflect on the legacies of those who have 
really worked to advance a more inclusive society and a more 
representative democracy.
  Elizabeth Peratrovich carried the Tlingit name Kaaxgal.aat. I am 
attempting to do that well but certainly with respect to honor her 
name. She was of the Lukaax.adi clan. She was born on Independence Day. 
I think that is pretty fitting--born on Independence Day in Petersburg, 
AK, in 1911.
  It was just right after that, right after the period that Elizabeth 
was born in Petersburg, that a group of Native people from across 
Southeast Alaska formed an organization called the Alaska Native 
Brotherhood, ANB. Two years later, the Alaska Native Sisterhood was 
formed, ANS. These are considered the oldest indigenous civil rights 
organizations in the world, coming out of Southeastern Alaska. ANB and 
ANS sought to advance equal opportunities for education, employment, 
housing; and they fought to secure Native civil rights.
  So Elizabeth Peratrovich and her husband Roy became active in ANB and 
ANS in the forties. They moved to Juneau, our State's capital, in 1941. 
And their personal accounts of the discrimination that they encountered 
in Juneau, as Alaska Natives--you read the accounts, you read the 
stories, and it truly parallels the Jim Crow practices of the South.
  But rather than be diminished, rather than be deterred, Elizabeth and 
Roy Peratrovich were advocates, advocates against the adversity that 
they saw in their own communities. And it was through their work with 
ANB and ANS that they began advocating for an anti-discrimination bill 
in the territorial legislature.
  And they pointed out the simple fact that Alaska Natives were paying 
taxes for a public school system, the same public school system that 
excluded their very own children. They pointed out that Alaska Native 
men were fighting in World War II and then, when they returned from the 
war, those Alaska Native veterans were denied rights that others 
enjoyed.
  These very real, very immediate confrontations with discrimination 
drove their pursuit of equal rights for people all across the State of 
Alaska. So they worked on this anti-discrimination bill that was 
advancing through the legislature. It took a period of time. It was 
reintroduced in 1945, and in 1945 the measure passed the Alaska State 
House and moved on to the State senate.
  And the debate on the senate floor was apparently quite animated and 
vocal throughout, but there was a territorial senator who denounced the 
efforts to desegregate. And he argued, and the words he quoted are ones 
that, as Alaskans, we see. The story told a lot. He said:

       Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to 
     associate with us whites, with 5,000 years of recorded 
     civilization behind us?

  That is what he said on the senate floor.
  At the end of the floor debate, at that time, it was not unusual to 
open up for comments from those who might be part of the public. I 
served in the Alaska State Legislature, and we have galleries that sit 
directly behind the chambers that are open to the chambers. And 
Elizabeth Peratrovich was sitting in the gallery listening to this 
extended and very offensive debate, quite honestly. But she rose, and 
she said:

       I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of 
     savagery, would have to remind the gentlemen with 5,000 years 
     of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights.

  She stood gracefully. She stood firmly. She refuted clearly. And when 
asked if she thought that the bill would eliminate discrimination--so, 
again, a pretty interesting exchange between members of the senate and 
a member of the public in the gallery--and not just a member of the 
public in the gallery but a Native woman speaking up and challenging, 
forcefully and calmly but with a determination and a resolve.
  And when she was asked if she thought the bill would eliminate 
discrimination, she replied:

       Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent those 
     crimes? No laws will eliminate crimes, but at least you as 
     legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the 
     evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help 
     us overcome discrimination.

  A pretty powerful reminder.
  And there was a long period of silence after her remarks, and then a 
wave of applause went through the gallery and through the senate floor, 
including from some who had previously opposed the bill. Alaska's 
Governor at the time, Ernest Gruening, was the one to sign the anti-
discrimination law, the Nation's first anti-discrimination law. He 
signed it into law on February 16, 1945. This was almost two decades 
before the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is pretty significant 
when you think about the contributions of this woman, Elizabeth 
Peratrovich, her husband Roy Peratrovich, and other Alaska Native 
leaders, at a time when discrimination was rampant throughout our 
country, that they had the courage and the strength and the 
determination to stand up for what is right.

  She is an inspiration because she set the example that, when you see 
injustice, you speak out, you take action. And she also provided a 
great example for why we need to listen to the perspective of all 
voices, especially--especially--those who have been left out or were 
left behind.
  Elizabeth Peratrovich is, as I mentioned, recognized in Alaska on 
this day. She has also been recognized nationally. In 2020, the U.S. 
Mint released these $1 coins commemorating Elizabeth Peratrovich, and 
2020 was the 75th anniversary of when the anti-discrimination law of 
1945 became law in our State.
  On the one side of the coin, it features the portrait of Elizabeth, 
the name of the legislation that she advocated for, and the symbol of 
the Tlingit Raven moiety, of which she was a member. So it is, indeed, 
a significant reminder to each of us, Alaskan and non-Alaskan.
  I think Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is also a timely reminder for those 
of us who serve here in the Senate. It may not be easy to take on some 
of these complicated issues, especially when partisanship is pulling 
Members back to their corners, but we know we can make good progress. 
We have done it. We certainly did it with the Violence Against Women 
reauthorization. We need to follow a process that allows us to get 
something done as opposed to simply sending messages.
  So as Alaska celebrates Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, I would hope the 
Senate would look to her legacy, her example as an inspiration, as we 
seek unity, as we follow her example of treating fellow citizens with 
respect.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.